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Guard Speaks Out
http://www.andersonindependent.com/news/2007/jan/09/guard-speaks-out-about-library-shooting/
(and there is a comments section)
Guard speaks out about library shooting
By Charmaine Smith-Miles (Contact)
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
As James Turner stared down at car headlights headed for him in the Anderson County Library parking lot on Saturday, he said instinct told him to pull his weapon and fire.
“When the car started to move, I pulled my weapon,” said Mr. Turner, a longtime security guard who had been assigned to the library since October. “It all went down in a split second. And I was afraid for my life. It scared me so bad I had to go to the hospital that night.”
The one shot Mr. Turner fired as woman fled the library for an unknown reason has rocked the library and may lead to new security policies. It is the first known shooting at the library. The woman was not believed injured, but hasn’t been identified.
Mr. Turner said he responded after the woman refused to stop after she set off an alarm while exiting the library.
On Saturday, he said, the situation he faced was truly bizarre. Mr. Turner said he feels that whatever she was running from was more than the threat of punishment for stealing a book. He said he asked her several times to stop. As she ran out of the building, he said she turned to him and told him to stop chasing her.
Once in the parking, she headed for the car, aimed at him and put it in drive, he said.
“She started forward slowly and then she hit me,” James Turner said. “That’s when I fired my weapon. And she gunned it.”
Mr. Turner, 50, said he has encountered all types of situations at the library. Just a week before, he said he had trouble getting an intoxicated man to leave the library. In that case, he said he called the police and had the man arrested.
He also said some people have had their wallets stolen, and he has been cursed at by teenagers when they are told to throw away drinks and the like.
Police have not been able to track down the woman. She was seen leaving in a red vehicle, but the guard did not get her tag number.
The incident has prompted library Director Carl Stone to consider using the Anderson County Park Police instead of a private firm. In the meantime, Mr. Stone said he has asked guards to work the library without guns at their side. The issue of guards using firearms has never been discussed, he said.
Cherokee Security Systems, where Mr. Turner is employed, has provided security at the library for nearly 20 years. The owner of the company, Roger E. Turner, defended his guard’s actions. The men are not related.
“He just barely got out of her way,” Roger Turner said. “At that split-second moment, he feared for his life. It was just a survival instinct. People can second-guess his decision but it was his life.”
All privately employed security guards are certified through a six-hour course approved by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Those who carry guns must also go through firearms training. And each year, guards’ must submit to a criminal background check to keep their guard certification.
Once they have the certification, the guards have the same arresting power as a deputy.
In James Turner’s case, he had worked for Pinkerton Security before he was hired on at Cherokee. From 1986-88, James Turner worked as a guard at the library. He went on to guard several other local companies and then came back to the library in October.
As far as James Turner sees it, he said the library is a lot more dangerous than people realize and that security guards he knows won’t work with the public, in a similar situation, without having a firearm.
“You cannot get a police officer to go up there without a gun,” James Turner said. “We get into the same situations as police do. So why put us out there where we can get our heads blown off?”
http://www.andersonindependent.com/news/2007/jan/09/guard-speaks-out-about-library-shooting/
(and there is a comments section)
Guard speaks out about library shooting
By Charmaine Smith-Miles (Contact)
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
As James Turner stared down at car headlights headed for him in the Anderson County Library parking lot on Saturday, he said instinct told him to pull his weapon and fire.
“When the car started to move, I pulled my weapon,” said Mr. Turner, a longtime security guard who had been assigned to the library since October. “It all went down in a split second. And I was afraid for my life. It scared me so bad I had to go to the hospital that night.”
The one shot Mr. Turner fired as woman fled the library for an unknown reason has rocked the library and may lead to new security policies. It is the first known shooting at the library. The woman was not believed injured, but hasn’t been identified.
Mr. Turner said he responded after the woman refused to stop after she set off an alarm while exiting the library.
On Saturday, he said, the situation he faced was truly bizarre. Mr. Turner said he feels that whatever she was running from was more than the threat of punishment for stealing a book. He said he asked her several times to stop. As she ran out of the building, he said she turned to him and told him to stop chasing her.
Once in the parking, she headed for the car, aimed at him and put it in drive, he said.
“She started forward slowly and then she hit me,” James Turner said. “That’s when I fired my weapon. And she gunned it.”
Mr. Turner, 50, said he has encountered all types of situations at the library. Just a week before, he said he had trouble getting an intoxicated man to leave the library. In that case, he said he called the police and had the man arrested.
He also said some people have had their wallets stolen, and he has been cursed at by teenagers when they are told to throw away drinks and the like.
Police have not been able to track down the woman. She was seen leaving in a red vehicle, but the guard did not get her tag number.
The incident has prompted library Director Carl Stone to consider using the Anderson County Park Police instead of a private firm. In the meantime, Mr. Stone said he has asked guards to work the library without guns at their side. The issue of guards using firearms has never been discussed, he said.
Cherokee Security Systems, where Mr. Turner is employed, has provided security at the library for nearly 20 years. The owner of the company, Roger E. Turner, defended his guard’s actions. The men are not related.
“He just barely got out of her way,” Roger Turner said. “At that split-second moment, he feared for his life. It was just a survival instinct. People can second-guess his decision but it was his life.”
All privately employed security guards are certified through a six-hour course approved by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Those who carry guns must also go through firearms training. And each year, guards’ must submit to a criminal background check to keep their guard certification.
Once they have the certification, the guards have the same arresting power as a deputy.
In James Turner’s case, he had worked for Pinkerton Security before he was hired on at Cherokee. From 1986-88, James Turner worked as a guard at the library. He went on to guard several other local companies and then came back to the library in October.
As far as James Turner sees it, he said the library is a lot more dangerous than people realize and that security guards he knows won’t work with the public, in a similar situation, without having a firearm.
“You cannot get a police officer to go up there without a gun,” James Turner said. “We get into the same situations as police do. So why put us out there where we can get our heads blown off?”
